Finishing the Job
by Seanchai15
Summary: A police officer investigating the murders of Jackson Rippner and Lisa Reisert discovers the true meaning of obsession. Rating just to be safe, as there is some violent content.


Disclaimer: The detectives are mine, but Jackson and Lisa aren't. If they were, this would be a motion picture and not a fanfiction.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Still no leads on the Rippner/Reisert case, but I have a thought. What if it's not a double homicide as we suspected, but some kind of suicide? You know, like a lovers' pact thing. That would explain it, no?" Det. Paul Landon looked at his commanding officer expectantly. He'd been bothered by this case for a long time, and was determined not to let it remain unsolved. "Or maybe the father did it? Found out they were having an affair and couldn't let his baby girl betray him like that, so he killed them both?"

"Landon, we've been through this. A fifty-eight year old man could not have possibly inflicted the injuries we found on those bodies. Especially not one of Joseph Reisert's build. It's probably exactly what I told you before. Somebody out for revenge on Rippner found him and the Reisert girl at home, decided to off them both to make a point. Most likely either organized criminals or professional thugs. We'll probably never find out who did it- the list of suspects is endless." John Watson rolled his eyes, exasperated by his young colleague. The kid obviously watched too much TV, and refused to accept an open-and-shut case for what it was.

"But what would she have been doing in his house? Everybody we've spoken to says they hated each other."

"Do yourself a favor, kid, and let it go. There is no deeper story here, and there are hundreds of reasons she could have been at his place. Now go work on a case that actually needs solving. Besides, Rippner was an assassin, the world's better off without him anyway."

Landon heaved a sigh and headed off to his desk, trying to fight off the feeling that they were missing something major. It was odd that there seemed to be no evidence of a third person, just footprints and DNA from the two victims. He scanned the pictures again, looking for anything he could have missed. But there was nothing, just the same smashed-up room with two dead bodies, a young man sprawled on the carpet and a woman on the floor but propped against the couch. Both were bruised and bloody, and both had been stabbed with the knife left lying on the floor between them. _Wait a second. Why is she up against the couch? If I was a murderer, I wouldn't take the time to put her in that position. It looks almost like somebody wanted her to be more comfortable. A thug wouldn't do that. And why just her and not Rippner too? Unless he put her there, but then why is he dead too? _He spent the whole day pondering this, but was not any closer to an answer by the time he went home. He thought about it all night, and was eager to continue going through the crime scene photos the next day.

He was shocked when he entered the office to find that all his items from the case were gone from his desk. He ran to Watson to ask what had happened, assuming there had been a mistake on the part of the janitor.

"Listen, Landon, we have you here to follow orders so we can catch criminals. We do not pay you to sit around all day and distract yourself with cases that have already been declared closed. So, I've taken measures to ensure that your focus will be where this department needs it to be, and if that does not happen, there will be consequences for you. Do I make myself clear?" It was clearly pointless to argue, so Landon headed back to his desk and tried to concentrate on other cases.

A few weeks of normal work went by, and Paul Landon grew progressively angrier. He had been so close to solving that case, and Watson had stopped him. The sense of failure was unbearable, and as time went by he blamed his boss more and more for not letting him just finish the job. Finally, he woke up one morning with a clear idea of what he needed to do. He went in to work as usual, and tried to look as casual as possible as he strolled in to Watson's office. Once he had been let in and was sure the door was closed, he did what he felt he had to, drawing his gun and shooting the man, finally ending his torment. Maybe he couldn't finish the job, but he could punish the one whose fault it was. The noise attracted some coworkers, and when he turned on them, one panicked and pulled the trigger on his firearm. Paul Landon fell, and in that last moment before he died, he realized that he knew exactly what had happened in Jackson Rippner's house. _I finally finished the job. _

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Several Weeks Before**

As soon as she'd heard of his release from prison, Lisa had promised herself she would pay a visit to Jackson Rippner. Part of her was terrified, knowing that it would mean being alone with him and looking into those cruel, hateful, yet somehow beautiful eyes, but part of her just had to see him as he was now, weakened by injuries she'd inflicted on him and still recovering from months spent in a cold, dark jail cell. She needed that to be her mental image of him, so that she knew there was nothing to be scared of anymore. So she'd tracked him down, and now stood nervously on his doorstep, hesitating a moment before ringing the bell.

He answered quickly, and she saw a look of confusion go over his face at the sight of her before he'd asked her in, saying that they needed to talk. And they had talked, seated on his sofa for hours, somehow just letting words flow between them. He'd told her about his life, and about his job, proudly telling her that he'd only failed once, on the Keefe job. There was something in his voice when he spoke of this that scared her, and she'd gotten up to leave before being roughly yanked back down. He'd pinned her to the couch, removing his knife from some hiding place and tracing her scar, literally reopening old wounds. She'd screamed in agony, but there weren't neighbors for miles, and he was completely unmoved by her cries. She put all her strength into shoving him off of her, and sent him rolling onto the floor. They'd battled for control of the weapon, both enduring their share of cuts, bruises, and pain, until finally Jackson got a good hold on it and gave Lisa a gash across the stomach. She staggered backward, falling against the couch and staring in horror as he crouched down in front of her.

"I hope you know this isn't personal, Leese. Just finishing the job. Or at least, making the failure a little easier to bear by removing the cause of it." She felt a surge of anger at his triumphant smile, and used the energy from that and his distraction to grab the knife from him. Before he could get it back, she managed to stab him, driving the blade as deep as she could into his body. His eyes opened wide in shock, and then he collapsed and lay unmoving on the floor. Lisa could feel the life ebbing from her, and propped herself against the couch, accepting her fate and just being glad to know that she'd finished the job she'd started on the plane, ad rid the world of Jackson Rippner.

The police arrived after Joe reported Lisa missing and told them that she'd been planning to visit Jackson. They found the gruesome scene in the living room, and almost immediately dismissed it as the work of a thug looking for revenge on Jackson. One young cop looked at the scene before him in disgust, promising himself that he would rid the world of people like this, who could become so maniacal and obsessed that they would actually kill someone for the sake of finishing a job.


End file.
